After writing three segments on Simcha B’Mitzvos, one wonders why yet another piece on this topic.

The truth is this may be the most important Avodah thought I have ever written!

The famous גמ' at the end of מכות says בא חבקוק והעמידם על אחת צדיק באמונתו [1]יחיה. חבקוק[2] was imparting a derech to enable one to connect to and fulfill the whole Torah. Yeridas hadoros necessitated such approaches as people could no longer fulfill the whole Torah without specific central focus points to build off of. חבקוק perceived that through Emunah one could connect to all the commandments.

We see from here that there are central points in Torah which help connect to many other Mitzvos and Torah ideas and therefore deserve a unique level of dedication.

Here is a list of twelve important aspects of joy in mitzvos. Take time to think about and resonate with each thing listed. Quickly reading the list will have little impact on your thinking and your life.

It is a vital element in chinuch habanim. A child learns from what a parent “lives” more than from his words and directives.

It’s “portable” - meaning it is an attainable level during one’s yeshiva/seminary years and beyond[6].

As one gravitates towards enjoyable things, it will help us stick to mitzvos in every life situation.

The opportunities for it are ubiquitous (as we are involved in mitzvos all the time[7]).

It is a gateway to higher levels (the Ariz”l pointed to Simcha B'Mitzvos as the facilitator for his reaching the unimaginable levels he reached.)

What more could we want!

We constantly hear about worthwhile focus points. Many great involvements clamor for our attention and time.

Perhaps the focus point for many of us should be Simcha B'Mitzvos.

[1] “חבקוק came and established them on one thing; a Tzadik lives in with his believe.” The explanation offered is what I heard from R. Wolbe, according to my understanding.[2] and those mentioned earlier in theגמ'[3] I don’t mean to bring out an exact parallel between the topics mentioned in the Gemora and anything else. Needless to say, I am totally not at the level to offer such conclusions. I am only bringing out the point that there are mitzvos that embrace many other mitzvos and that simcha b’mitzvos appears to me to be such a thing.[4] Otherwise we wouldn’t be happy doing His commands.[5] As we learned in "Practical Simcha B'Mitzvos" parts one and three, a mitzvah b’simcha is worth 1000 times a burdensome one.[6] As mentioned in Part 1, some yeshiva-level maalos are very difficult to “take with you”.[7] It, obviously, make sense to work on things which are more prevalent.